pulga wrote:Do you really believe you'll ever arrive at any apodictic conclusion in the matter?

There's no need to set the bar so high.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting oneself one protects others? By the pursuit, development, and cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness. It is in such a way that by protecting oneself one protects others.

"And how is it, bhikkhus, that by protecting others one protects oneself? By patience, harmlessness, goodwill, and sympathy. It is in such a way that by protecting others one protects oneself.- Sedaka Sutta [SN 47.19]

daverupa wrote:Well, it does help to circumscribe the possible length of time between the Buddha's teaching career and Asoka's missions, which helps to define the shape of the period within which the Nikayas formed up. In relation to the Dhamma which these texts indicate, this knowledge can be significant.

Do you really believe you'll ever arrive at any apodictic conclusion in the matter? The whole topic reminds me what the Buddha was trying to convey in the Brahmajalasutta: all historical theories, be they speculations about the past, the present, or the future, are a net of views derived from phassa.

The dogmatists have claimed to have found the truth, others say that it cannot be apprehended; the Sceptics continue the search. Sextus Empiricus

Bechert edited a large 3 volume work which was a collection of papers on the dating of the historical Buddha. There are papers looking at the date from many different traditions and angles. One was by Gombrich in which he went through the Pali commentaries and worked out based on rough ages and life expectancies how long ago the Buddha would have died from a certain date in the Mahavamsa. Another was based on doctrinal developments - how long would it take for the teachings to develop, another on the archeaological evidence, another on the Chinese dotted record, another on the Tibetan tradition, chinese tradition etc etc. Great book